Meet James Wood: Fabricator and Welder

James Wood is a fabricator and certified welder on the production floor at the Spanco facility in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. He’s been an integral member of the Spanco family since November 1997, and according to his co-workers and supervisors, he’s an incredibly hardworking, dedicated guy.

As a fabricator, James runs the fabrication equipment on the factory floor. He’s an accomplished machinist, and capable of running all of them, including the lathe, the plasma cutter, and the press. He’s also one of our best certified welders. As a welder, James receives a blueprint for each piece of equipment we produce. Using the prints, he tack welds system components together at isolated points to ensure each system is properly aligned, and then makes the final welds. But, James isn’t just a great fabricator; he’s also a wonderful human being.

James loves working for Spanco because he loves the people he works with. They’ve become some of his closet friends, and he sees them as part of his Spanco family. But, it’s clear that few command the type of confidence and inspire the sort of work ethic that James does. Accoding to Production Manager, Chris Moke, “James is the type of guy who will go to any length to get the job done. He’s very flexible and always willing to go above and beyond. He’s positive, hard working and always has a smile on his face.”

That sentiment was echoed across the shop floor and from every corner of the Spanco offices in Morgantown. Spanco Fabrication Supervisor, Bill Harvey, has worked with James since he began 17 years ago. He considers James to be one of the hardest working guys he’s known, and literally referred to him as, “The best guy I’ve ever met.” According to Bill, James is always willing to go above and beyond for his friends, co-workers, and for the company. “James puts everyone else before himself. He would do anything for anyone. He doesn’t only take care of his own, he takes care of every one else’s too.”

There’s really no better compliment a person could ask for, and when I asked James about what he loves most in the world, he was quick to reply, “My granddaughter.” James has two grown kids and one granddaughter, Jocelyn, who is seven years old. She has a very special relationship with her “Pop-pop”, and seeing the proud look on his face as he showed off her picture was a pretty good indication that she knows how to use that to her advantage.

In addition to his family, James also loves riding his motorcycle, which he refers to as “Air Therapy”. He has an awesome sense of humor, because he jokingly pointed out, “I would call it hair therapy, but I don’t have any.” One thing is for sure, people love James, and he loves them back. He’s always smiling, always saying hello, and willing to work hard for what he believes in. And, if you ask him what he thinks about Spanco Cranes versus the competition, he’ll probably have this to say: “There’s a running joke down in the shop about some of our competitors. You might be able to stand behind their cranes, but I wouldn’t want to stand under them…”

Here at Spanco, we feel pretty confident that we can stand behind our cranes and under them. Especially when we’ve got guys like James Wood helping to put them together. We’d like to thank James for seventeen years of hard work, dedication, and service here at Spanco, and here’s looking forward to seventeen more!